New Abstract Artwork by Alejandro Goya

Here is my latest abstract artwork. As usual, this panel was 2 or 3 other possible pieces before Mana Aina #6 felt right; maybe more like 5. People sometimes ask how long does it take me to complete a painting. For the most part it is embarrassing to tell the truth since it takes longer than all abstract artists I know. To be honest, for the most part of the making process I have no idea about what I’m doing. Even when I’m done with a painting, I’m not sure if it is done; but I have to draw the line somewhere and move on. I usually have about 10 panels at my studio in the process of becoming something. Some remain in that state for years. Mana Aina #6 was stucked in that process since 2010. I’m very happy it is here after wandering for so long. You can always view more of my more of abstract artwork here.

Paia Contemporary Gallery opened two years ago, the brainchild of artists Alejandro Goya and Kenn Briner. Their aim was to offer a space exhibiting works from an art-centered, rather than commercial, mindset.

“This gallery has a very different feel and look. The art is not jammed; it’s displayed in a more respectful way,” Goya says.

Longtime Maui artist Ben Kikuyama says Paia Contemporary has the feel of a Chelsea, N.Y., gallery: “an open room with white walls, stark, but everything is about the art.”

Kikuyama, a contemporary artist who’s worked full time on his art since 1986, has been extensively involved in Maui’s art community. He says he’s crossing his fingers that Goya and Briner succeed, because “Maui has a stigma for commercial work.”

“I hope they can bring up the awareness of the level of work being produced on this island,” Kikuyama says. “Alejandro has a pretty good eye for talent and work. One of the things I’m excited about is that they’re bringing in a good selection of contemporary work. It’s hard to find nonrepresentational contemporary art in this state.”

This month the gallery features the paintings of Maui’s Tony Walholm, president of Ebb and Flow Arts, and Florida’s Babette Herschberger.

Goya says the gallery provides “a more universal experience rather than a local one. We’re not trying to fill a niche. Customers from New York and San Francisco are my biggest collectors. They’re saying we could have this gallery anywhere in the world, not just because of the (caliber of the) artists, but because it’s run by artists and for the way it looks. People who love art love to see art this way. They have a good experience here, and they return before they leave.”

In fact, Goya says he has repeat clients who return annually, and some visit three or four times a year.

“One client owns $100,000 of my work. Art lovers, if they have the means, will purchase what they want. We’ve grown rapidly from featuring four artists to 15, so when customers return they always see something new.”

But it’s not only the financial rewards that motivate these gallery owners.

“This is a gallery that works with artists and collectors,” says Goya. “As an artist, I was not free to meet collectors. Now I know them as friends, and through this gallery there’s a growing sense of community. When we have events here, a lot of artists come in. They interact with each other, have a drink of wine. It’s not just about picking up a check.”

Kikuyama says Paia Contemporary’s success inspires him as an artist.

“They’re refreshing,” he says. “You sort of feel alone because not a lot of artists here are doing their art full time. I’m lucky, but it’s always a challenge and a struggle. It creates a different atmosphere when someone is succeeding.”

IT was just after 10 a.m. and the Paia Contemporary Gallery was getting ready to open. The sun was streaming through the glass storefront, giving everything inside a warm glow. Alejandro Goya, the gallery’s owner, was adjusting a small glass sculpture just a fraction of an angle.

“I’m interested in abstract art, as you can tell,” said Mr. Goya, who was surrounded by crisp white walls and vaguely figurative sculptures, some costing a few thousand dollars. But any notion that this was a high-priced gallery in a big city was punctured when a group of surfers walked past the front door — barefoot, boards under their arms, and wetsuits unzipped to their waists.

Surfing and art mingle a lot in Paia — a blink-and-you-miss-it town — on the north shore of Maui. For years, this old Hawaiian sugar town has been a respite for stoners, surfers and, according to many locals, a certain low-key breed of celebrities like Willie Nelson, the Doobie Brothers, Woody Harrelson and Kris Kristofferson.

In recent years, however, the chill surfer vibe has been joined by a buzzing art scene, with a half-dozen new galleries representing artists like Mary Mitsuda, David Ivan Clark and Udo Nöger. Their works have not only attracted the attention of the international art-collecting crowd, who come here on spending holidays, but also that of major institutions like the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Meanwhile, boho-chic hotels and fancy farm-to-table restaurants have opened, and a different caliber of tourist (as in the wealthy, art-buying caliber) has started turning Paia into an unlikely destination for contemporary art.

“You have all that exotica, these wonderful restaurants and top-notch galleries,” said Michael Kessler, an artist who lives in Santa Fe but recently had his first show in Paia. “I don’t know any other place like it.”